May 27th — Math Review and Fibonacci!
Hello Everyone!
So, during our unit “The Nature Connection”, we have had an opportunity to work on a wide variety of math skills from the content and curricular competencies of the math curriculum.
We have done math using the following resources:
- Journey Through the Animal Kingdom: Math in the Real World
- Journey Through Planet Earth: Math in the Real World
- This is Not a Math Book (Math Art)
- Math Connections to the Real World Grades 5-8 (Review of Decimals/Fractions)
- The Original Area Mazes Volume 2
- Fibonacci Videos (see below)
- And challenge math from Geometry Books grades 7-10 level for those who wanted it
We have addressed the following parts of the math curriculum (I can’t list them all, but here are the top ones!) Students worked on all of these at their own levels of understanding, depending on grade level and experience. We also added depth and complexity as needed.
- Big Idea: Closed shapes have area and perimeter that can be described, measured, and compared.
- Using reasoning to explore and make connections
- Estimating reasonably
- Model mathematics in contextualized experiences
- Visualize and explore math concepts
- Use math vocabulary and language to contribute to math discussions
- Explain and justify math ideas in concrete, pictorial, and symbolic forms
- Reflect on math thinking
- Number concepts to 1,000,000
- Decimals to hundredths or thousandths
- Area measurement of squares and rectangles, as well as some abnormal combined “L” shapes
- Relationships between area and perimeter
- Duration, using measurement of time, 24 hour clocks, & reading time zones
- Classification of prisms and pyramids
- Single transformations
- Tallying and graphing, Diagrams and charts, coordinates/quadrants
- Financial literacy
- Volume
- Roman Numerals
- Division using remainders and decimals, depending on ability
- Reading temperature with positive and negative integers
- One step equations with variables and understanding algebraic expressions
Everyone has turned in their work for Animal and Planet Earth Math, and they received a check plus, check, or check minus. A few people did not have their work and need to check in with me as soon as possible.
We watched an excellent series of videos on Fibonacci and Math in Nature. Here are the three videos to watch again at home. Yes, the person who did the videos speaks very, very fast! We stopped and started the videos many times while watching. Have you used your angle-a-tron at home? We used them outside, and it was amazing to see that they worked! 137.5 degrees and 90 degrees everywhere!
Fibonacci Doodling in Math Class # 1
Fibonacci Doodling in Math Class # 2
Fibonacci Doodling in Math Class # 3
Also check out these websites from Math is Fun talking about:
Feel free to browse the other topics on Math is Fun for further information. I have also put some practice websites for math topics at the Articles of Interest Page.
As we do the math for our applied design project making a scale model, here are some websites to look at:
Pictures of objects “to scale”
Teach Engineering Scale Model Fun
At a base level, making a scale model is about visual-spatial reasoning and understanding. Yes, we do measurement, we use a scale, we talk about ratios, etc., but we are also trying to understand a visual and spatial relationship between two objects or two spaces.
For example, today to better understand our natural space, we went for a walk around the actual, larger space outside. Walking it helps our brain understand how big it is, beyond the actual measurements of 81 feet by 23 feet. Then, we took the box we are using for the scale model and placed it on the ground, inside the larger space, so we could see just how much smaller our model is than the actual area beside the portable. Reactions included, “Whoa!” It takes seeing things from a different perspective to truly understand scale. Great work everyone on your math scale objects today in class! See Twitter for pictures.
By the way, making a scale model is tough! So, at the base level, can you understand how to enlarge or reduce a 2D square or rectangle on grid paper? Can you understand a 1:4 relationship or ratio or fraction as we described in class? Good job! You are on the right track for your grade-level curriculum!
Ms. D